power

Short Version: Simple to operate and offering the ability to pop out the rechargeable AAA batteries for use in other devices, the Pocket Booster pulls double duty as life support for your phone and battery charger for items like remote controls and Bluetooth mice. Read More

After being sued by Facebook in December for violating its terms of use, social-networking aggregator Power.com is now close to settling the dispute, we have been able to confirm. The final settlement terms are still being ironed out, but are being reviewed by both sides.
Power.com lets you sign into multiple social networks and manage them from one place, but it did not use Facebook’s… Read More

Newly launched Power.com, a service that lets users aggregate their social networking experience across multiple sites (Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, MySpace, etc.), was sued by Facebook on December 30. The complaint, filed in Federal court in California, is embedded below.
The Power.com service lets users view activities on all of their social networks at once. It also marks up pages to include… Read More

iGo, a leading developer of multi-device chargers for laptop computers and mobile electronic devices, plans to roll out some new items at their first-ever visit to CES, just a few weeks away.
The iGo Laptop Charger, with iGo Green™ Technology, lets you “[c]harge your laptop and other devices from any standard wall outlet, including automatic shut-off and recovery to reduce vampire… Read More

Chances are you use at least two major social networks – 49 million people, for example, visited both MySpace and Facebook in October 2008 (Comscore, worldwide). Nearly 7 million people in the UK use both Bebo and Facebook. A lot of people maintain very different friend lists on LinkedIn than MySpace or Facebook. Etc. And when you add in niche social sites like YouTube, Flickr, etc. Read More

Wow. That’s pretty much the only word that can describe Tom Armitage’s “If Games Ran The World.” Its thesis is that, in the next few years, people who grew up playing video games will become world leaders. People who have played all the big games from every generation—Pac-Man, the first EA Sports games, Resident Evil, MMOs, fighting games, etc. Real… Read More

Here’s a nice idea: a charger for your G1 Android-powered phone that simultaneously charges the phone and a second battery. Peter complained about the battery life of the G1, so maybe picking up a spare battery isn’t a bad idea if you live and die by your smartphone. For $17 at netimes.com, this is a pretty easy way to ensure your Android always has the juice it needs! Read More

Short Version: The Kensington 4-Port USB Charger is an ideal solution for people toting multiple USB-powered gadgets who want to charge more than one of those gadgets at a time without looking for open USB ports and wall sockets. Read More

I’m not an experienced electrical engineer so I’m never sure about the feasibility of this sort of thing, but I’ve seen wireless power demonstrated before, and if you’re willing to work within certain restrictions, it seems to be a perfectly good option. I don’t really like the idea of, say, microwave based power being shot all over my room, so this magnetic… Read More

According to a Xantrex Technology Inc. Survey, 71%of American travelers do not have an emergency preparedness kit in their vehicle, and only 11% have an independent jump-start solution that does not require another vehicle’s assistance. Notably absent is the number of American drivers, like me, that have jumper cables but don’t have any idea how to use them properly. Read More

Short Version: The Medis 24/7 Power Pack makes for a good, easy-to-use emergency charging kit to keep in the car or for use anywhere without access to conventional power. At $30 to $50, it’s relatively inexpensive as long as you use it sparingly. Read More

http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mnr_lib/200808/players/player-single.swf?job=34799Get right the hell outta town with this thing. Here’s a blender – a blender – using wireless power. It’s the result of “eCoupled intelligent wireless power” which has been created by Fulton Innovation. The company is working on building the same magical power system into… Read More

File this one away in the “only if I thought of this, I could pay my baby momma.”
The Smart Kleat. Kind of self explanatory but still innovative. It will be available from Charles & Marie eventually for a yet to be announced price.
via Apartment Therapy Read More

Hey, this deal is only good until 1:00 PM Eastern today, so hop on it if you’re interested. It’s the Sunforce 5004 60 Watt Solar Charging Kit, sold by Amazon.
The kit includes a PVC mounting frame, 7 Amp charge controller, 175-watt inverter, and wiring/connection cables. And with the built-in blocking diode technology, this charger kit is designed to protect against battery… Read More

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. For $22.99 you can charge four USB-powered devices plus another regular DC-powered device in your car. It’s only $22.99 – roughly the cost of one or two device-specific DC adapters. Since just about everything charges via USB nowadays, this is a pretty obvious choice for any gadget fiend who spends a lot of time on the road.
Car Charger with 4… Read More

Socket Sense is a power strip with plugs set at 45-degree angles. Each one expands or contracts based on the size of the thing you need to plug in. Brilliant. My current surge protector makes me sad now.
It’s $30, available here, and is good for over 2,000 joules of surge protection.
via Switched Read More

Taking another step towards using our trash for fuel, Plasco Energy Group is putting up a large-scale plant in Ottowa that will use plasma torches to essentially vaporize trash into usable “syngas.” If it sounds too good to be true, that’s kind of the case because it’s quite expensive to run. But the technology works: the trash goes in and is reduced to simple gases… Read More

We’re not sure exactly how the math on this works, but according to an Australian consumer group, called Choice, the Playstation 3 consumes more electricity than a medium-sized fridge. Not just a little more, but five times more, and that’s just plugged in with no gameplay.
Plasma TVs are also hardcore energy vampires, sucking down four times more energy than standard TVs.
Not… Read More